Improvement in the manufacture of steel-headed horseshoe-nalls



J. H. SMITH. MANUFACTURE 0E STEEL HEADED HORSESHOE NAILS. No. 104,785.

Patented June 28, 1870;

DDS 555 EBB E D EDD iDD SEQ To all whom it may concern:

JOHN HENRY SMITH. on ALLEGHENY Owl PENNSYLVANIA,

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTUREOF STEEL-H EADED HORSESHO ENAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Batent N0. 104,785,1lated June 28,1870.

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY SMITH, of the city and countyofAllegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new:

and useful improve1nent,' namely, a ne'wartiole of manufacture-via,wrought-iron horseshoe-nails the heads of which'are converted intosteel; and I do 3 hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, andexact description.

thereof. 7

The nature of my invention consists inmak in ganewarticle of manufacturev1z.,wrough tiron horseshoe-nails the heads Q converted intosteel. 7 v ii To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to 'de-' f which are scribe more fully the new article ofmanufacture, and the means for makingthe same.

I make horseshoe-nails of a good article of wrought-iron, and of any 'ofthe known forms,

7 and by any known means. I then convert the heads of then'ails into;steel by the process of I cementationfl or by any other suitable orknown means.

1] I will now give a brief description of-a pro- 5 cess whcrebyztheheads of the nails may, with ease and facility, be'converted into steel.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a" top-view or plan of thelower part of a cementing-chest with the horseshoe-nails embedded in it.Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the cementing-chest with nailsembedded in it, and their heads covered with the material for convertingthem into steel.

The lower part, A, of the cementingchest is packed with loam or othersuitable matter,

into which are forced the shanks of the nails, leaving their heads fexposed or projecting above the loam O in the part A of the chest. Ithen place-theuppcr part, B, of the chest on the part A, and-fill itwith pulverized char coal, D,-packing it closely around the heads of'thenails.

'The charcoal is pulverized and wet with a solution consisting of waterin which nitrate of-soda is dissolved. One pound of the nitrate 'ofsodadissolved in ten gallons of water will besufiicient for wetting one tonof the pulvervized'charc'oal,which will be enough to .convert in tosteel the heads of about two tons of nails, @The charcoal, afteri-t. hasbeen wet with the solution, shouldlbepartially dried before cov-' eringthe heads ofthe nails with it.

. Having the nails embedded ,in thecementing-chest, asi represented inthe accompanying.

drawing, the lid this. properly secured on the .chest. It is then placedin a heatingfurnace,

and subjected to a high de gree of heat for from ten to fifteen hours.The chest is then removed flOlIL the furnace, and it, and" its contentsallowed to gradually cool ofi, after which the nails are removed, theheads of which will be found to be converted into steel, which may be,if desired, tempered and hardened by the ordinary means used for thatpurpose.

The advantage of my improvement consists in making the heads of thenailsstronger and i more durable, and the shanks'of the nails more ductile,and ofgrcater tensile strength.

Having thus described my improvement,

whatl claim as of my invention is-' A new article of manufacture-via, .awrought-iron horseshoe-nail the head of which is converted into steel,substantially as i herein described.

JOHN HENRY SMITH. Witnesses JAMES J. JOHNSTON, J As. G. Tiuo-lvrrsoiv.

